Hunter Pet Families (WoW)

Pet families refers to the species of that particular pet. There are twenty two available families that can be tamed by Hunters although a few families are much preferred due to the skills and advantages they offer.

Skills

The main difference between pet families is the skills they are able to learn, make up a lot of the pets damage and almost all of their utility.

Stats

The damage, health and armor of different pets will depend on the stat modifiers (for example, +5% DPS).

Focus Dump

The term 'focus dump' refers to a pet ability that does not have a cooldown. This means that the pet will not have an excess of focus.
Focus dumps are important for hunters with the Bestial Discipline and Go For the Throat (skills that increase focus generation) as these can generate a lot of damage.

Chase abilities

Chase abilities such as Dash, Dive & Warp allow the Hunter's pet to greatly increase their speed for a short period of time.
This is more vital for PvP but can speed up most things in PvE (mainly in solo situations).

Diet

A pet with a diverse diet can be easier to keep happy through feeding. Pets that eat meat or fish are generally easier to maintain as the food is much more common.